1 Middle School End
"Text" = talking
"TEXT" = shouting or talking loudly
"Text" = thought or inner monologue
*Text* = action
"Text" = talking (not in Japanese from the character's perspective)
First time writing in years so helps me improve here.
Also help me with the title because I have no idea what i should put for the title, just put your suggestion in the comment.
Btw, this guy's name is Kentaro Honshiro
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~ Tokyo West International School ~
- Honshiro's Perspective -
*Riiiiiing*
Having forcefully woken up from my short nap by the school bell ringing i immediately opened my eyes and straightened my sitting position while combing my hair with my fingers.
Looking around the classroom i noticed that some of my classmates were just doing the same things as me.
Some of them are my close friends, namely Arga Adiputra and Aksa Gunawan, a pair of brothers from Indonesia, or West Java from what i remember they told me.
They are some of my first friends in this school, been singing together on the school's rooftop since the first year.
*Click* *Creak*
A middle-aged woman in a nice suit opens the classroom door and walks in just as the school bell finishes ringing, thus marking the start of the last lesson of the day.
Her long black hair flows slightly from the cold air blowing from the class's AC as she walks to the front of the class.
"Good afternoon class"
She greets us with her usual flat tone.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Kodai"
"Good afternoon Mrs. Kodai"
"Good afternoon Mrs. Kodai"
~
Niko Kodai, our homeroom teacher is carrying a stack of papers before putting it on the teacher's desk and turning her attention to us.
"Alright class, this is it, you've entered last year here, teaching you has been..something that i've been looking towards doing every day for the last two years, especially now after becoming your homeroom teacher, though i'm saddened that this is our last year together, i have confidence that all of you here one day will reach your dreams and success in the future."
She said with very little change of expression on her face, she has always been like that since we first became her students, we figured it's probably some kind of genetic thing.
But hearing it, it is a little sad that it's already my last year in middle school.
No matter how much i'm looking forward to my coming highschool years, the memory that i've created here still has a very special place in my heart.
The first ever foreigner friends that i made here, the singing together session we had once every week on the school's roof, helping my friends confess to their crushes and watching them either get immediately rejected or watching them dating and eventually break up in just a few months, the first time learning a new language and being fluent in another language.
The first time in years that i stop crying myself to sleep, that's a big plus.
And so i must say it was quite a memorable two years of my life.
Mrs. Kodai then continued to talk and started explaining about the stack of papers that she had brought with her.
"Now i'm sure that you're wondering about what's in this paper so i'm just gonna tell you. This is an application for your highschool, you are in your senior year now so it's time to think seriously about your future school."
She announced with a slightly serious face, it's hard to determine emotion when it comes to her, and her monotonous voice that she has whenever she talks doesn't help either.
But seeing her face turn slightly serious is enough to tell us that this is indeed a serious matter.
"Now i'm sure that some of you have already decided what you want to be in the future, so today, we will discuss the importance of selecting the appropriate highschool to pave your path in this Quirk-driven society. It is a decision that will impact your future as aspiring individuals in this world."
The classroom was filled with an air of anticipation as Honshiro and his friends, tho still a bit sleepy listened attentively.
"While many of you may have aspirations to become heroes, it is crucial to recognize that high school is not solely limited to hero training institutions. The realm of possibilities extends beyond the boundaries of heroics.
Consider the diverse options available to you. There are specialized highschools for support courses, management, research, and even hero support industries. Each path provides unique avenues for growth and contribution within society.
You need to analyze your strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Reflect on your talents, whether they lie in combat, analysis, creativity, or problem-solving. Choose a highschool that aligns with your aptitudes and aspirations because it will shape the trajectory of your future."
A subtle pause hung in the air as we processed the weight of their decision.
"And don't hesitate to seek guidance from your parents, mentors, or even professionals within the field you are interested in. Gather information, and evaluate the curriculum, facilities, and extracurricular opportunities each highschool offers. Assess the potential for personal and academic growth within your chosen field.
Remember, highschool is a transformative period where you will build connections, hone your skills, and explore your place in the world.
And be mindful of the values, teaching methodologies, and resources provided by each institution. Seek a highschool environment that facilitates your learning style and offers a network of support to enhance your journey.
Now i'm sure that you're all going to be bored if i continue to talk even more, so today's class is dismissed early, you all take these application papers with you and you can go home and discuss what highschool you want to choose with your family and friends at home.
Class Dismissed.
And class rep can you spread these papers to each one of your classmates please?"
She concluded her speech with a very small smile on her face.
*Yawning* "Yeas ma'aaaam~"
Arga, our Class Representative walked to the teacher's table, took the stack of paper, and gave them to each student while walking around the class.
After he finished giving the application paper Mrs. Kodai exited the room with a farewell, and we all began to pack our belongings and get ready to go home.
While organizing my bag pack, i see Arga and Aksa walking to my desk, i turn my head towards them to ask them what's up.
"Woi Ken! You're still going to apply to U.A High right?"
Aksa said with literally zero care of the things he's saying.
U.A is the #1 High School for Heroics in all of Japan and is considered one of the top Hero academies in the world, with the acceptance rate going as low as 0.166%.
(This happened back when All Might had just reached his peak in popularity and tens of thousands of children were eager to follow in his footsteps resulting in U.A having its largest record of people giving their applications to U.A's hero course in their entire history.)
Anybody going there is considered highly ambitious and has prepared themselves for months some even years in advance just to pass the entry exam.
Almost all of the current top 5 heroes in Japan are all graduates from U.A Hero Course, except Hawks.
And of course, proclaiming that you are going to try and attend at U.A will draw some attention to yourself.
"Woah! Honshiro-kun, you're going to U.A‽"
"Honshiro-san are you sure? The results from last year's U.A acceptance rate is only 0.2%!"
"I don't know man, i heard the teachers there are not that nice either, remember that news a few years ago about a teacher at U.A expelling a whole class for a whole day just because he didn't like them?"
"Oh yeah, i heard about that once, pretty scary to think about it, you slip up with one teacher once and there goes your future~"
All kinds of comments are thrown around the class by my classmates, of course, i don't blame them for being worried about me but still.
"Hey! At least have some faith in your own classmate will you, and screw you Aksa i thought i've told you not to talk about it"
I said with an annoyed manner, tho i'm not exactly angry at Aksa, more or less just, you know annoyed.
"And aren't you guys going to U.A too?"
I asked them back, i wanted to confirm this since the last time i spoke to them about this they said that they were going to U.A too.
"Oh-uh..about that, yeah not anymore actually, me and Arga change our minds"
Aksa said sheepishly and began scratching the back of his head. Now this piqued my curiosity, why would they suddenly back down from U.A?
"Huh? You guys changed your mind, why?"
I immediately asked them for their reasons. What could be their reasons for backing down?
This time Arga decided to respond.
"It's mostly from what Mrs. Kodai just said when she said, "to be mindful of the values, teaching methodologies, and resources provided by each institution and to seek a high school environment that facilitates your learning style".
We're actually in quite a dilemma between choosing either U.A or Shiketsu High, both have a rivaling amount of prestige and while Shiketsu is closer to where we live, you choose to go to U.A so if we go to Shiketsu we can't be in the same school anymore.
But, hearing what Mrs. Kodai just said made us rethink our choices and, we decided to choose Shiketsu High, and it's not because they're better than U.A per se, but it's more because they opted for a more traditional teaching method, unlike U.A.
From reading the U.A's website yesterday we found out that U.A does not adhere to traditional school methods, and allows their teachers to teach their classes however they like, after we both considered this together, me, Aksa and our parents, in the end, we decided to choose Shiketsu Highschool."
Arga said, with a soft tone to his voice.
It takes a while to set in for the realization that this is not going to be just another year of middle school, i am going to go to high school just as i was going to middle school two years ago.
I'm going in alone.
Not going to lie, i'm terrified. I'm quite dependent on my friends for a lot of things, including keeping my increasingly deteriorating sanity.
"Shit, alright alright calm down don't need to look worried now *breath in* *breathe out* okay, that just means i'll need to make friends fast or-"
But before i could even finish my thought, Aksa came flying straight towards me and just started crying all over while hugging me.
"WAAAAH! Keeeen, we're not going to be schoolmates anymore! Waaaaah!"
He cried while hugging me, which meant my uniform was now soaked with his tears.
Aksa making a scene in class is a usual randomly occurring event that happened in every class he's ever been in, it happened at least three times a month.
There's even a rule created where it states that Aksa can only make a scene either during breaks or in between classes, but when class starts he will have to either stop or be called to the principal's office.
Back to the present, i have decided to go with his play and also start to cry while hugging him.
"Waaah! Aksaaa! I'll miss you so much!"
Yes, i said that, with tears in my eyes as well, i'm good at faking stuff.
Then, i guess not wanting to be left out, Arga also decided to join our hugging session and began to cry as well.
"waaah"
Although with much less enthusiasm.
We stay like that for a while, gaining a few weird but otherwise amused looks from some of our classmates who are still in the class.
Most of them are no longer weirded out by our antics after being our schoolmates throughout middle school i'm pretty sure they're not expecting any less from us for our farewell.
After some time exchanging farewell with the rest of our classmates and some of our other friends from the other class, me and the twins began walking home together as we always do exchanging some old stories while joking around.
Eventually, we split up and we continued to walk our way home, now alone i began to ponder about how to maximize my chances of getting to U.A.
"Hmm~ i know i need to continue training my quirk and studying more at home but, should i do physical training as well?"
I know the question should be obvious, why not? Training my body would not only increase my chances of getting to U.A, but it would also be another distraction from home which is good.
The problem with it is that i'm actually as lazy as a sloth without any supervision, this is what i mean by that i'm dependent on my friends, they're the only ones who give me the needed amount of motivation to actually do something useful.
Without them i'm hopeless, i have nothing to look up to for the next day or the day after.
I need to convince my friends to do a group exercise session or something like that, i just need a good reason...
"Wait... me, Aksa, and Arga are going to a heroing school, and they got an entrance exam too i can just use that as an excuse, i'm an idiot"
With that thought in mind, i have finally arrived home the familiar sounds of someone screaming have already started to fill my ears.
So i know that Dad is home early at least, that's not a plus.
As i opened the front door i immediately needed to dodge an incoming fork thrown by my drunk mom that i guess was supposed to hit my dad but of course, it would instead go right toward me.
I stopped caring to actually hear what they were screaming about years ago, i just picked back the thrown fork from the ground and walked in before closing the door behind me.
I walk towards the stairs wanting nothing more than to go to my room and just close the door.
And of course just before i reached the bottom of the stairs, my mother just decided to shoulder-check me from behind almost knocking me over.
Without even acknowledging my existence she just ran up the stairs to her room before slamming it close and immediately locking it from the inside, the nightly crying started and it would only end in either midnight or somewhere around 01 o'clock in the morning.
It's always been like this for years, the screaming, the crying, the fighting, i can't differentiate them from this day and any other days from the past years of my life anymore.
Without saying anything i straightened myself up and walked up the stairs again.
As i entered the solitary of my room i tossed my backpack onto my chair in front of my computer desk and i just lay in the bed, finally feeling relaxed as my body slightly sank into the bed.
I closed my eyes and began to feel truly relaxed, like nothing matters in the world and i could just lay there, on the bed, for as long as i wanted.
Until i realized that i still hadn't asked any of my friends about that workout plans yet.
"Hmm.. who should i ask first?"
I thought out loud, Aksa and Arga are already on my mind but should i ask more people for it is the question.
"...Eh why not, i'll just ask them if they want to or not"
After deciding to just ask for anyone who wanted to join the workout sessions i immediately went to take a shower before changing up my clothes to something at least decent enough for me to go visit Aksa and Arga's house.
I left the house without any parting words to both of my parents, as i have done countless times before.
As i began my walk to Arga and Aksa's house, my thoughts began to wander into my mindscape.
I began to imagine the future, where we all are Heroes beating Villains left and right.
Me and my friends singing and dancing together to celebrate our victories, it felt nice imagining a bright and happy future so i continued.
I kept imagining a lot of things, about everything that i ever wanted, until i reached a dead end.
I imagine that after i have defeated a supervillain and saved the whole world, my parents would run to me and hug me, congratulate me, shower me with their praises and affection, and they would smile at me.
That's when i stop.
Because i realized that it's all just in my imagination.
My thought stopped right as i was going to knock on Arga and Aksa's door.
I began to remember the reality of it and the true nature of my parents.
It's really disappointing, this whole reality of mine, i often ask myself if i really want to be a Hero for the greater good, or just my own selfish desire.
I've always hated-Hated-HATED them for it, there was not a night where i don't cursed their names that are lost to me now.
Yet no matter how much i HATE them, no matter how much i wish that they're just never together in the first place to have me.
Everything that i have done and accomplished, is just a way for me to silently seek their acknowledgment, their approval, to have them be proud of me.
But, before i could continue to be trapped in my own mind the door in front of me opened, revealing the one that had opened it from the other side.
It was Arga who opened the door, he was startled a little after seeing me right in front of his door.
From the looks of it, he was about to take out trash, probably, judging from him holding a trash bag in his hand.
We kinda of just stood there for a second.
Until finally Arga decided to break the silence by calling my name.
".. Ken?..Why are you still in a knocking position?"
Arga asked me with a little stupefied expression.
"...Because I was about to knock?"
Arga thought about my answer for a few seconds, before just nodding in response and adding.
"...*Nodding* Yeah that makes sense, just come in, by the way, Aksa's in the kitchen just tell him that you're here I need to take out the trash"
After he said that, he walked out of his home with a few trash bags in his hands.
I just take my shoes off and let myself in just as I have countless times before.
As i take my way to the kitchen, a savory aroma enters my nose, the sound of something boiling in a pot filling the room.
Aksa stood at the side of the stove as he stirred the inside of the pot whilist singing a song happily.
He is wearing a cream-colored apron with a simplified drawing of a Shiba Inu and the word "SHIBAINU" on it.
"Pulang malu tak pulang rindu
Kar'na nasib belum menentu
Pada siapa aku mengadu?
Pulang malu tak pulang rindu~..."
He sang as he watched the fruits and vegetables boil inside the pot whilist his stirring was in sync with his singing.
I just stood there for a second waiting for him to finally notice my presence.
But deciding to be at least polite, i greet him in the usual way i do.
"Permisi Aksa! I'm here!"
Hearing my voice he immediately turned his head to me before answering my greeting.
"Oh, Shimy! You're here already? Sit down-sit down, i just finished cooking the tamarind soup, Arga just left to take out the trash wait here while i finish the fish"
After he replied he immediately offered me a seat at his table for lunch.
Of course, i politely declined the offer, saying that i'm not hungry but, of course, he insisted because he already knew that i'm lying.
Another thing that i have to thank the Indonesian brothers is that they are the ones who keep me from starving to death since middle school.
My parents would always either eat outside or in their rooms, i can't remember the last time we ate together at the dinner table as a whole.
It became a necessary thing for me to be able to cook my own food with whatever was left in the fridge, it was a long process of constant trial and error but, eventually, i became good enough that i don't feel like vomiting every time i eat my own cooking.
But since the first day that i got to middle school though my parents have stopped bringing back ingredients for me to work with all together.
At that time, the only way i could eat was by buying the ingredients and cooking them myself, but my spending is already limited as it is.
My only source of money is through some side jobs that i did after school and on weekends, thankfully i've managed to secure funding for my 3 years of middle school through a National Mathematics Olympiad for underage level, so my schooling is fully paid for by the government.
But remembering the past for too long makes me sad, i better stop at that.
Anyway back to the present, after Aksa insisted that i join him and his brother for lunch i decided to oblige, he then instructed me to take my own plate and rice from the rice cooker while he took the carp fish that was wrapped in banana leaves from the stovetop grill and put it on a plate already prepared on the table.
After i put my bowl of still steaming tamarind vegetable soup beside my plate of rice, Aksa had just started to take his own plate of rice.
Arga greets us just as he comes from the front door.
Lunch continued without much interruption, except for that one time when a bird suddenly slammed itself beak first straight to a window, thankfully only cracking it and not piercing through the window.
After checking out the bird, which didn't end up surviving the crash, we went back to eating right after burying the body.
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In The Afternoon ~•
After waiting for a few hours, the number of people who ended up showing up for our group workout session that i proposed is 20 people, 13 of whom are from my own class and the rest are from the other classes.
To be honest, this is quite a lot more than what me and the twin expected, but still manageable, so we quickly began our planned workout session.
First, to warm up our bodies we did a 3 km run.
Most of us can run through the whole thing, some need to take a break in between runs but it's mostly because of lack of training or a side effect of their genetic or Quirk.
After that, we did some dynamic stretches to prepare our bodies for the exercise.
Next up, 1 hour Of Speed and Endurance.
Beach sprints.
One of our friend's dads will act as our helper and be the one who's holding the stopwatch.
Before starting the session it took us some time to find a relatively flat section of the beach for our exercise.
After finding a suitable spot, we did some drills to minimize the risk of injury.
And then, we start the session.
First, flying 40m sprints, rolling start accelerate for 20m, hold for 40m, rest 5 minutes between reps and 7 minutes before the next set.
Next, flying 60m sprints, rolling start and accelerate for 20m, hold for 60m, rest 7 minutes between reps and 9 minutes before the next set.
For the last, fly 50m sprints, rolling start and accelerate for 20m, hold for 50m, and rest 6 minutes between reps.
We did several sprints with different distances, flying 40m sprints, flying 60m sprints, and flying 50m sprints.
After the end of the session, some of us are already sweating buckets of sweat. Well, mostly just one of us, one of my friends, Higuchi Konjo, his Quirk allowed him to turn his sweat into other liquids, one of the side effects of his Quirk is he can sweat at will.
Which, he utilized to his advantage by sweating heavily to continuously cool down his body.
While he's lucky, most of us aren't, so we must continue to be roasted alive by the cruel sun.
Next session, 1 Hour of Strength Training and Conditioning.
Pushups, sit-ups, squats, plank, squat jumps, name it, any type of strength exercise we probably did it, I can't even remember anymore, it's just all hazy and stuff.
Me, Arga, and Aksa are currently resting while buried neck-deep in the sand, while the top part of the sand is a bit hot from being exposed to the sun all day but so are we, and the lower part of the sand is quite cool so this is comfortable.
Then Aksa decided that this would be the perfect time to start a conversation about our future goals.
"So...in 10 months we're going to be high schoolers, so i think this is a perfect time for us to start asking the real question.
What type of girl are you looking for in highschool?"
Knowing Aksa this question didn't surprise us much, but it did make us think for a while.
What is our type of girl?
And surprisingly, Arga was the first to answer.
" "Types" aren't everything, you don't need to focus on them. You can still create a deep, profound, and fulfilling bond with someone who's not a "perfect match" with you. You need to keep an open mind cause you never where you'll go with roman-"
He just starts saying some bullshit while avoiding the question entirely.
"Arga no one can listen to us right now"
Aksa said cutting him off.
" Tall and busty, with a nice personality, if she's good, maybe i'll call her mommy "
Arga changed his answer so fast i didn't even have time to register it before Aksa began speaking again.
"Good, your turn now Honshiro"
Aksa turned his attention to me.
I think about the answer for a while before shaking my head and telling Aksa.
"Nah you go first, i still need to think"
"Fine"
He said.
" I'll say, something along the lines of cute, with a not-too-serious personality and maybe talkative enough to keep up with me but i'll put that under optional "
Me and Arga just nodded our heads, not too surprised by his taste in girls is not too far from himself.
"Alright, that's just leave us with you, come on Kentaro"
He turns his attention to me, and with me being the last to give my answer it's a bit nerve-wracking for me.
"I'll say ... a nice girl,"
I start off with my answer.
"Ok-ok"
"First and foremost"
They both reply at the same time.
"And then ... i'm out"
And just like that i just spent all of his brainpower thinking of what kind of girl i'd like.
"Hahahaha! Still as bad at that department as ever"
Aksa, quick as ever decided to quickly strike at my very apparent lack of skill and knowledge about anything related to girls my age.
"Hey it's not that bad, that's one word more than usual, I'll say that's progress"
Arga tried to ease the pain of the insult, but it was not working as well as i hoped.
But then suddenly, i reached a moment of clearing, for a short moment everything seemed so clear to me.
"W-WAIT! i got it.. it's- i want a..cute and quiet type of girl, like..like Komi-san!"
I managed to yelp out, the Indonesian brothers looked at me with a surprised look on their faces.
The three of us just stood there, buried neck-deep in the sand while they both just looked at me dumbfoundedly, damn they really don't expect much from me did they.
Then suddenly Aksa began to snicker, which made me ask.
"Why are you laughing? It's not bad right?"
I ask with a bit of worry in my voice.
"Hehe sorry-sorry, i'm just realizing now why you are so close to Mrs. Kodai at school, imma be honest Honshiro i did not expect her to be your type all along"
Aksa said while still struggling to suppress his laughter.
After he said that i realized what he was implying.
"N-No! Nonono i do not have a crush on Mrs. Kodai! No!"
I desperately denied his accusation and my face started to go warm from embarrassment.
This only prompts him to laugh even harder than before, even Arga starts to laugh too.
"Hehe~, but it's true though you are noticeably more focused on Mrs. Kodai's lesson compared to other teacher's lessons"
Arga said, deciding to join in too.
"Dih‽ No! I actually like to learn other languages, you bastards!"
Our little banter was interrupted by our friends calling for us.
"Oy, you guys! Come on we're packing things up for dinner, you guys coming or what?!"
It was Higuchi Konjo again or Gucci-man according to Aksa's weird system of giving nicknames.
After hearing the word "dinner" all three of us immediately freed ourselves from our sandhole as fast as we could, even using our Quirk to speed it up, tho we did it discreetly.
The sand around Aksa began to vibrate and loosen around his limbs allowing him to climb out of the sand.
While Arga's whole body began to spin, not too quickly, just enough to free himself from the sand and climb up from his hole.
But me? I just pull myself off the sand and climb up from my hole easily, it may appear that i just up from the hole normally but if you look very closely, you would see bones protruding from my palm and breaking off just before i took my palm off the sand.
Yeah, i'm just gonna leave that there and maybe scare some random children who think that they're gonna dig up some random patch of sand and then find some human bones in it instead.
Good luck to the parents i guess, i hope they won't report this to the police because i'm gonna get in some trouble if that happens.
"...Actually i think i'm gonna deal with that real quick"
After i disintegrated all of the bones to the sizes of sand grains, all three of us began to walk toward the rest of our friends who were preparing an American-style barbeque for all of us.
Some of our friend's parents even come over as well bringing some more meat for the barbeque.
"Hey guys! You won't believe what type of girl Kentaro likes!"
Aksa suddenly shouts while we're all busy eating our fill.
"Eh! Sa, jangan!"
I scream back at him.
"He has a big crush on Mrs. Kod-"
"HE'S LYING! ANJING, FITNAH!"
All in all, i'll say it's a pretty good day today.
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And that's it for the first chapter, hope y'all like it, God bless 🙏.
